Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Has $433,000 Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. reduced its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 99.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at $291,000. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total transaction of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,536. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $287.06 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $287.88 and a 200-day moving average of $274.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $307.71.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.16.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.